Horned x Polled Herfords

Help Support CattleToday:

Alan

Well-known member
Joined
May 9, 2004
Messages
9,515
Reaction score
6
Location
NW Oregon
I'm thinking of AIing a Horned bull to a Polled cow next year. Here's my reasoning, please correct any thoughts I have wrong.

I see alot of great looking Horned Bulls with great EPD's, PureGold, 9126J, Polled being the dominant gene I will have a minimum chance of a Horned offspring while having access to a larger gene pool. While I understand I'll get some horned offspring and have cows that carry the horned gene, I do not feel that will be a problem to my "Polled Hereford" program. I'm assuming it has been done for many years.

Well crossing with horned bull give me calves with more vigor? as in a F1 cross?

Thanks,
Alan
 
No more then breeding to any genetic outcross from your cows.

dun
 
Mahoney Pursley Ranch":jh1kq1qk said:
I'm sure you can find some great genetics in polled herefords also.

I have found some great genetics in polled also, but is there a good reason not to expand the genetic pool with horned also?

Thanks,
Alan
 
well if you got coyotes around there...a horned hereford bull will take care of them...i've always had horned herefords and the horns have never been a problem for me
 
i wouldnt expect there to be enough heterosis to matter with that cross. the main advantage i see would be knocking the horns off, and maybe being able to improve carcass traits, stuff like that.
 
Alan, I would tend to agree with Beefy on the heterosis or lack thereof. I would also point out that while polled is the dominant gene it is an "incomplete dominance" result, i.e. scurs, short horns, etc. I have been using a few polled bulls on horned cows with the goal of offering polled bulls to customers wanting them. Best of luck with your program!!
 
capt":191gugbr said:
Alan, I would tend to agree with Beefy on the heterosis or lack thereof. I would also point out that while polled is the dominant gene it is an "incomplete dominance" result, i.e. scurs, short horns, etc. I have been using a few polled bulls on horned cows with the goal of offering polled bulls to customers wanting them. Best of luck with your program!!

Here we go again. Horns and scurs are different gene pairs. The reason you don;t see scurs on horned animals is because they grow from the same area. Other then that, scurs and horns have no bearing on each other.

dun
 
depending on whether your cows are homozygous polled or heterozygous polled, the calves will either be horned or carry the horned gene.

i think you can find almost anything you're looking for in a polled bull, but if horns don't bother you & you find a horned bull you like, then go for it. there are lots of horned herefords being bred to polleds and vice versa.
 
I prefer the horned Herefords, but the polled breeders have worked for decades to develop homozygous polled animals. Polledness is the deciding factor for a lot of bull buyers, especially if they are used to using an Angus bull. I don't think the polled segment needs a lot of heterozygous polled animals producing bulls.

For a commercial operation, I think mating horned to polled is OK, but Texag is right about being able to find most anything you need in the polled segment of the breed. If you are going to be selling bulls, it will probably pay dividends in the future to stick with polled AI sires. If bull buyers start getting a few horned calves out of your polled bulls and don't like it, you may lose repeat customers and get some bad publicity at the local feed store or sale barn when the farmers gather to chew the fat. Just my opinion, though. You're the one that has to look at 'em. :cboy:
 
Kent":36ev7qk5 said:
I prefer the horned Herefords, but the polled breeders have worked for decades to develop homozygous polled animals. Polledness is the deciding factor for a lot of bull buyers, especially if they are used to using an Angus bull. I don't think the polled segment needs a lot of heterozygous polled animals producing bulls.

For a commercial operation, I think mating horned to polled is OK, but Texag is right about being able to find most anything you need in the polled segment of the breed. If you are going to be selling bulls, it will probably pay dividends in the future to stick with polled AI sires. If bull buyers start getting a few horned calves out of your polled bulls and don't like it, you may lose repeat customers and get some bad publicity at the local feed store or sale barn when the farmers gather to chew the fat. Just my opinion, though. You're the one that has to look at 'em. :cboy:

Kent that's a great point, thanks.
 
the polled hereford breeders have been working putting a a$$ end of their animals. and have some decent bulls now ive used horned bulls in the past and like um but i prefer polled. looks like dealing with the horns wouldnt be worth what little heterosis you would gain
 
Here we go again. Horns and scurs are different gene pairs. The reason you don;t see scurs on horned animals is because they grow from the same area. Other then that, scurs and horns have no bearing on each other.

dun[/quote]
NOT EXACTLY. THE HORN GENE MUST BE PRESENT FOR SCURS TO BE EXPRESSED. HOMO POLLED CATTLE ARE ALWAYS SMOOTH POLLED AND SCURRED CATTLE ARE ALWAYS HETERO POLLED. ALSO YOU SEE MORE SCURRED BULLS THAN FEMALES BECAUSE SCURS ARE DOMINANT IN BULLS AND RECESSIVE IN FEMALES.
 
I thought an animal can be homozygous polled and still have the scur gene. I also believe that it is sex linked.
 
My family has raised Herefords for over 50 years, and you will not get any vigor out of the calves.

My stance on the Herefords is that: the horned breeders have stayed true to the breed, and the polled breeders bred for the showring.

Horned cattle still posses(sp?) the good genetics the breed was founded from. Fertility, muscle, pigment(simmental?), easy-fleshing, etc

I think crossing horned and polled is a good thing to do.

But, you will get horns or scurs 95% of the time. Good luck and I think it would be a good thing to do.

P.S. My favorite breed is a commercial 1/2 Hereford x 1/2 Angus, but primarily registered Angus which I breed!!!!!!
 
BTW jnowack, where do you think POLLED HEREFORDS came from???

Horns and scurs will crop up somewhere down the line. Forget the heterozygous, homozygous stuff. I've had 7/8 Angus x 1/8 POLLED hereford calves come up with horn nubs at branding that had to be burned out.
 
I started out using a horned Hereford bull on polled Hereford cows. We never had a scur, and had one set of horns.

I was pleased with the results.
 
DANNY

HOMO POLLED ANIMALS CAN CARRY ONE OR TWO SCUR GENES BUT THEY WILL BE SMOOTH POLLED.
 
DANNY

ALSO SCURS ARE NOT SEX LINKED THEY ARE SEX INFLUENCED.
SEX LINKED TRAITS ARE CARRIED ON THE SEX CHROMOSOMES BUT SEX INFLUENCED TRAITS ARE IN A DIFFERENT LOCATION BUT ARE OFTEN RECESSIVE IN ONE SEX AND DOMINANT IN THE OTHER, OR MAY ONLY BE EXPRESSED IN ONE SEX.
 

Latest posts

Top